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7 out of 7 people found the following review useful: Oh, boy! They actually made a good swedish action movie!, 6 September 2001 Author: Gabri L from Stockholm, Sweden
After having been almost physically persuaded to see this movie (I don´t see Swedish movies anymore, they usually put my teeth on edge), I was extremely surprised by "Livvakterna". This and it´s predecessor "Noll Tolerans"(made by the same people, has the same main character) are most probably the only Swedish action thrillers to actually deserve that denomination.An introvert, hard boiled, cop goes to the funeral of his friend´s father, and gets involved in a yarn of extortion, blackmail and murder. The action scenes are realistic, nothing fancy, the characters believable, and most of all, the cinematography is excellent. A car chase through a Swedish forest will go down in history as a modern classic, and the director made good use of cut and sound to highten the suspence. And believe me, towards the end I found myself biting my fingernails to the quick!All in all, the best in its genre to come out of Sweden in a long time, and I hope that this movie sets a standard!
4 out of 4 people found the following review useful: A bodyguard firm helps a victim..., 16 February 2004 Author: gustav_c_j from Ljungby, Sweden
This movie is the second of a trilogy. It's about Johan Falk a Swedish police officer. His friend gets caught in a situation with organized crime takin' over companies. And Johan comes to the rescue. This is a high speed action movie from beginning to end. And you won't be disappointed by it. The other movies are "Noll Tollerans"(Zero tolerance) and "Tredje vågen" (the Third wave).
4 out of 4 people found the following review useful: Swedish action that works, 25 August 2002 Author: Jonas G from Göteborg, Sweden
Usually Swedish action movies are worse than an American C-class action. In movies like the two latest Hamilton movies (Vendetta and Hamilton) the action mainly consists of car explosions and gunfights that even the worst of American action would match.Livvakterna does not fall into this trap, to my delight there isn't one single car explosion. Sure, there are some gunfight but to me they feel real, the characters feels real, the script feels real... basically, it's a very good movie.
5 out of 6 people found the following review useful: Very cool film about personal protection, 1 February 2004 Author: fgh-enterprises (fgh-enterprises@idx.com.au) from australia
This is the first Swedish film I have seen, having watch it on the SBS TV channel in Australia the reason I watched it was the title got my attention due working in the private security industry. It is very sparse with none of the usual Hollywood Bulls**t that is usually attached with these type of films. A realistic and compentent look at the intricate world of personal protection, especially during the scene's where the bad guys take the house and Pernilla throws herself in front of the principal and keep's him down until the all clear is given.The ending is edge of seat stuff. All up a extremely good film. Highly recommended veiwing
6 out of 8 people found the following review useful: Enjoyable Svensk thriller!!!, 29 March 2003 Author: hamlet-16 from Melbourne, Australia
An enjoyable Swedish crime thriller that follows on from the very good "Noll Tolerans".Organised crime is attempting to take over Swedish businesses and our hero, Jacob Eklund must defend the good people of Sweden from the very nasty Christoph M. Ohrt.What occurs is a lot of shooting, car chases and mayhem and blood ...lots and lots of blood with a very high body count!The film develops a good deal of tension as it moves to the inevitable final shootout with a nice twist at the end.Well worth a night in to watch on video!
2 out of 2 people found the following review useful: The best Swedish movie ever!, 30 August 2001 Author: Tomas Lidberg from Luleå, Sweden
This film is the best Swedish movie that I have seen, its different than other films. The movie is "seen" from another point of view, its not the harassed family´s view but an old friend´s that is a tuff cop that is trying to help the family."Livvakterna" is a film that is thrilling from the beginning to the end, its also cool sometimes and it has the best car chase that I have seen in a film - in a Swedish forest road. It has also (as do many successful films) some humor.The film is not that violent ither except for the opening scene. This is a quality film that I just have to recommend.
4 out of 6 people found the following review useful: Superb Swedish Thriller, 8 March 2002 Author: GambitSWE from Landvetter, Sweden
Excellent thriller with great acting. As somebody already pointed out, there isn't very much of the Hollywood stereotype about the movie. With this I mean explosion, after explosions which are so big that they can't possible be. Sweden aren't exactly known for their big action/thriller movies, but this one will maybe open some eyes for those who don't know that Sweden are a bit more than Strindberg, Nobel and polar bears. Do they have polar bears in Sweden,? No. But according to a essay done in the US, more than 50% of the students thought so.The movie has beautiful scenery, and the tension keeps you at your toes, though it hasn't anything really new about it. Does show though that Sweden can produce thrillers, and not only dramas, which may be nominated for an Oscar...
1 out of 1 people found the following review useful: Realistic action!!!, 14 May 2002 Author: Einar Petersen from Hamar, Norway
This film is a "must" for those who are into realistic action. It has good story, good actors and it`s not typical American. I can only speak for myself when I say that I appreciate that guns are being properly handled, that magazines are being changed and that a simple car-crash does not make an explosion. "Livvakterna"/"Executive Protection" are an example to follow for all Nordic film makers. Dice throw 5!!!
1 out of 1 people found the following review useful: Psycho cop lost in the woods, 19 August 2001 Author: Håkan Tendell (tendell@newyorkcity.com)
Part of writing a manuscript is about creating realistic dialogue. In Livvakterna this is handled with a new, daring exercise: Let the star meet all questions with silence. Somehow though, you could consider it realistic. I mean, after all the star is a psycho cop who don't attend former girlfriends funerals, who loves police work more than family life, who quits police work by just sending a mail and have more guts fighting lawyers than criminals. He loses himself in a bodyguards vs bodyguards drama and move into the woods. There will not be another sequel to Noll Tolerans-Livvakterna. Therefore I'm thankful and gave it an 8.
1 out of 1 people found the following review useful: Good... and Swedish!, 14 August 2001 Author: Anders Åslund (anders.aslund@xpress.se) from Karlstad, Sweden
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
The world is awash with awful police movies, and Sweden has contributed some to this fact. "Livvakterna" (The Bodyguards) is a fresh new attempt at the Swedish police thriller, and actually succeeds. The victim of a Russian mafia scam, Sven Persson (Fröler) is blackmailed by some mercenary ex-Stasi super-criminal and his gang. When Persson refuses to pay up, well... you know the drill. Nothing really revolutionary. Meanwhile, former police investigator Johan Falk quits the force because he is ostracized by his superiors (again, nothing new) and joins a team of bodyguards to back his old pal Sven Persson up against the mafia gang.No new twists and turns, the same old story. Then why is it good? Well, the characters are believable, the performances are good, and there is something different about Swedish action-thriller flicks. This one is far more violent than most, but is still kept at a fairly decent level, no tremendous explosions and stuff, just plain shooting, car chasing through the Swedish forest (very nice) and then shooting some more before the quite exciting finale. Of course, in line with tradition, there's a lot of looking confused, grim, confused again and then very, very dedicated before the good guys win (oh, gimme a break, that's not a spoiler).Performances are fine, except for maybe Alexandra Rapaport who should just stay away from this kind of film for she is clearly not cut out for it. The action itself is believable and even cool at some points. So, all in all, a good action movie. And Swedish at that.
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